A street panhandler, Daniel Harlan, is not the only homeless man in the crowded city of San Fransicso, but he is definitely the most stand out one because of his flat-nosed Exotic/Himalayan cat, Samantha.
Most people took notice of this homeless man because of his beautiful cat, but Samantha was nowhere to be found because Harlan believed that she was stolen.
Samantha is perhaps the only thing Harlan really cares about in his life.
Last Friday when Harlan went to a nearby store to buy some food for Samantha and himself, he left the cat on a leash tied to his tent and was only away for a few minutes. When he returned, the cat and his tent were gone.
Harlan went everywhere in the area to look for the cat. He even visited the police office, but the police did not have time to search for a homeless man's cat. He also went to the SPCA and the animal control shelter, but they did not have his cat.
Harlan and Samatha were photographed by The Chronicle one time for a story about Market Street. Harlan went to The Chronicle for help, hoping someone would return his cat after seeing the picture in the paper.
Harlan thought the cat was stolen for money because Samantha is an expensive breed where he spent $2,200 back in the days when he had money.
Samantha is Harlan's best friend, campanion and someone who can calm him down and help him out. "She's with me 24/7" he said.
But it turned out that a man named Tom Neville saw the cat and asked around to see if anyone knew who the cat belonged to, but no one knew anything. So he decided to take the cat with him to work. When he saw the photo of the homeless man and the cat printed in the paper, he realized it was Samantha, so he contacted Harlan and reunited the two.
Harlan wept when he saw the cat. Neville offered to buy the cat, but Harlan refused and said he could not sell his cat. Neville gave the man some cat food and $40 which Harlan used to buy several things for the cat, a new tent and a few necessities.
via SFGate